I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8704 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to 

foster enhanced coexistence between ocean users and North Atlantic 

right whales and other large cetacean species. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2024 

Mr. CARTER of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to 

the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant 

program to foster enhanced coexistence between ocean 

users and North Atlantic right whales and other large 

cetacean species. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES AND REGU4 LATIONS. 

5 For the period beginning on the date of the enact6 ment of this section and ending on December 31, 2030, 

7 the North Atlantic right whale vessel strike reduction rule 


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1 contained in section 224.105 of title 50, Code of Federal 

2 Regulations, in effect during the fiscal year ending on Sep3 tember 30, 2022, may not be amended, updated, modified, 

4 or replaced. 

5 SEC. 2. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE AND OTHER 

6 LARGE CETACEAN SPECIES GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

10 establish a competitive grant program to award amounts, 

11 on an annual basis, to eligible entities for the eligible uses 

12 described in subsection (e). 

13 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall enter 

14 into a cooperative agreement with the Foundation pursu15 ant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Estab16 lishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) for the Foundation 

17 to manage and administer the Program. 

18 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

19 the Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the Foun20 dation an application in such form, at such time, and con21 taining such information as the Foundation determines 

22 appropriate. 

23 (d) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—After the Secretary enters 

2 into a cooperative agreement with the Foundation 

3 under subsection (b)— 

4 (A) for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

5 provide to the Foundation the amounts made 

6 available under this section to carry out the 

7 Program in an advance payment of the entire 

8 amount on October 1, or as soon as practicable 

9 thereafter, of each such fiscal year; and 

10 (B) the Foundation shall invest and rein11 vest excess such amounts for the benefit of the 

12 Program. 

13 (2) APPLICATION OF NATIONAL FISH AND

14 WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT.— 

15 Amounts received by the Foundation under this sec16 tion to carry out the Program shall be subject to the 

17 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establish18 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), except for sec19 tion 10(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)). 

20 (e) ELIGIBLE USES.—An eligible entity that is 

21 awarded a grant under the Program may use such grant 

22 to develop, assess, and carry out activities that reduce le23 thal and sub-lethal interactions between ocean users and 

24 North Atlantic right whales and other large cetacean spe25 cies, including— 


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1 (1) funding research to identify, deploy, or test 

2 innovative avoidance technologies that reduce or 

3 eliminate harmful interactions between ocean users 

4 and North Atlantic right whales and other large ce5 tacean species; 

6 (2) efforts to enhance awareness of existing 

7 North Atlantic right whale management measures 

8 and rules; 

9 (3) developing on-the-water approaches to sup10 port the coexistence of ocean users and North Atlan11 tic right whales and other large cetacean species; 

12 (4) funding the expansion of infrastructure and 

13 capacity to disseminate management and other rel14 evant information that reduces harmful interactions 

15 between ocean users and North Atlantic right whales 

16 and other large cetacean species, especially such 

17 interactions that can lead to lethal or sub-lethal in18 jury; and 

19 (5) other uses the Foundation, in consultation 

20 with the Secretary and relevant eligible entities, de21 termines appropriate. 

22 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro23 gram, the Foundation shall give priority to applications— 

24 (1) with a substantial likelihood of reducing le25 thal and sub-lethal interactions between ocean users 


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1 and North Atlantic right whales and other large ce2 tacean species; 

3 (2) that include cooperation among ocean users; 

4 and 

5 (3) that demonstrate, or have the potential to 

6 provide, economic benefits to small businesses reliant 

7 upon fishing, tourism, and maritime-related activi8 ties based in the United States. 

9 (g) PROHIBITED USES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), an eligible entity that is awarded a grant 

12 under the Program may not use such grant to dis13 tribute resources to an entity or individual that is 

14 not a United States person. 

15 (2) EXCEPTION.—An eligible entity that is 

16 awarded a grant under the Program may use such 

17 grant to distribute resources to a partnership that 

18 includes an entity or individual that is not a United 

19 States person if the resources are distributed di20 rectly to a partner in the partnership that is a 

21 United States person. 

22 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

23 of the enactment of this section, and every 2 years there24 after, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Nat25 ural Resources and the Committee on Transportation and 


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1 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

2 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

3 the Senate a report regarding the results and effectiveness 

4 of projects carried out with a grant awarded under the 

5 Program and work carried out pursuant to section 201 

6 of division JJ of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

7 2023 (16 U.S.C. 1393) and section 11303 of the James 

8 M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

9 Year 2023 (16 U.S.C. 1391). 

10 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

12 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec13 tion $10,000,000, to remain available until ex14 pended. 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Each fiscal 

16 year, of the amounts made available to carry out 

17 this section under paragraph (1), the Foundation 

18 may use not more than 5 percent or $80,000, which19 ever is greater, of such amounts for the administra20 tive expenses of the Program. 

21 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means— 

24 (A) a State, regional, local, or Tribal gov25 ernment; 


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1 (B) a nonprofit organization or research 

2 institution with expertise in on-the-water tech3 nology for the monitoring or detection of North 

4 Atlantic right whales and other large cetacean 

5 species; 

6 (C) any individual or entity the Secretary 

7 and the Foundation jointly determine appro8 priate, including ocean users in the fishing, 

9 tourism, fishing tackle manufacturing, boating, 

10 shipping, marine electronics, ship piloting, ves11 sel towing, and other maritime sectors; and 

12 (D) a consortium of 2 or more entities de13 scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through 

14 (C). 

15 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

16 means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 

17 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

18 the program established under subsection (a). 

19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 

21 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At22 mosphere. 

23 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

24 ‘‘United States person’’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in section 7701(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

2 Code of 1986. 

Æ 


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